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MND NewsWire features plain and simple interpretations of industry related data and events written in a manner that maintains the interest of random readers while still catering to the perspective of a housing market professional.

Freddie Mac said today that the housing
recovery continues to be a primarily local phenomenon. While markets with strong economies and
favorable demographics are continuing to improve at a strong pace most markets
are still generally weak and the housing market as a whole continues to plod
along

The company released its most recent Multi-Indicator Market Index (MiMi)on Wednesday, with a current value of 73.7. This indicates a weak housing market overall,
with only a slight improvement (0.04 percent) from May to June and a 3-month
positive trend of 0.16 percent. On a
year-over-year basis the MiMi has risen by 7.67 percent.

MiMi combines proprietary Freddie Mac data with current local market data to
assess where the nation's housing market as well as those in each of the 50
states and the District of Columbia and the top 50 metro markets is relative to
its own long-term stable range. The
index combines data on home purchase applications, payment-to-income ratios
(changes in home purchasing power based on house prices, mortgage rates and
household income), proportion of on-time mortgage payments and the local
employment picture to create a composite MiMi value for each market.

Monthly, MiMi uses this data to show, at a glance, where each market stands
relative to its own stable range of housing activity and whether each market is
moving closer to, or further away from that range. A market can fall outside
its stable range by being too weak to generate enough demand for a
well-balanced housing market or by overheating to an unsustainable level of
activity.

The
nation's all-time MiMi high of 121.87 was June 2008; its low was 59.8 in
September 2011, when the housing market was at its weakest. Since that time,
the housing market has made a 23.3 percent rebound.

In
June, 21 of the 50 states and 25 of the 50 metros are showing an improving
three month trend. The same time last year, every state plus the District of
Columbia, and every metro was showing an improving three month trend.

Thirteen
of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia are considered to be in a stable
range with North Dakota (96.2) the District of Columbia (94.3), and Wyoming
(92.3), ranking as the top three. Six of
the 50 metro areas are also considered stable with San Antonio (92.0), Austin
(87.4), and New Orleans (84.8), leading the list.

Nevada
(+1.56%), Illinois (+1.09%), and Connecticut (+0.93%) were the most improved
states on a monthly basis, while Nevada (+23.5%), Florida (+14.8%), and Illinois
(12.9%) improved the most from the previous year. The most improved metro areas
from May to June were Las Vegas and Riverside (tied at +1.69%) followed by San
Jose (+1.48%). On a year-over-year basis
the most improving metro areas were Las Vegas (+26.5%), Riverside, (+19.2%), and
Miami (+17.2%).

Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said, "As we see the economy
slowly normalizing we're starting to see its effects in the housing market as
well, albeit very slowly. The good news is the big housing markets, of which
some were also the hardest hit, continue to improve. For example, from the same
time last year, California is up 12 percent and every market MiMi tracks in the
state is improving. Meanwhile, Florida is up nearly 15 percent and Illinois is
up nearly 13 percent over the past year. Likewise, the stalwarts of the recovery
continue to be those states in the North Central section of the country, places
like North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and then south to Texas and Louisiana. In
these areas not only are markets producing jobs, but better paying jobs that
translate into workers taking out applications to purchase a home and income
growth that keeps homebuyer affordability strong."

Freddie Mac Deputy Chief Economist Len Kiefer pointed out that the current
report includes the first release of quarterly data, providing further analysis
beyond the monthly release. "For example, the most improved metro and
state markets over the quarter were Las Vegas and Illinois which were up nearly
5 and 4 percent respectively. Though Las Vegas has shown considerable
improvement, it is still a weak market, with the lowest overall MiMi index
value of 48.2 as of June. Driving the improvement in Illinois over the past
three months is the Employment Indicator which is up 16.9 percent while the
Current on Mortgage Indicator is up 3.8 percent since March. In fact, the
Employment Indicator in Illinois (87.8) moved from Weak to its stable In Range
status over the past quarter, reflecting improvements in local labor market
conditions."

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